2026 SPARC National Conference

Move your Marketing and Auxiliary relationship from transactional to strategic. This session explores the key data points that matter, regardless of your role, and how to align auxiliary insights with broader school data to drive smarter decisions. Learn how to shift from reactive requests to intentional planning that supports both enrollment and program growth.

We’ll break down how to use data to inform marketing efforts, improve communication with MARCOM teams, and build trust through a shared strategy. When you move beyond quick fixes and last-minute asks, you create space for stronger collaboration, clearer messaging, and more impactful results. Walk away with practical ways to streamline your process, strengthen your partnership, and position your auxiliary program as a strategic asset within your school.

Gen Z is reshaping our programs, expectations, and day-to-day realities—and many of us are navigating that shift in real time, often without a clear roadmap. This session offers a space to come together as colleagues facing similar challenges and opportunities. Through a guided, candid conversation, participants will share what’s working, what’s not, and the questions we’re still trying to answer. From engagement and communication to boundaries and expectations, we’ll explore the evolving dynamics of working with the next generation in our programs.

Offering financial assistance within revenue-generating programs can feel challenging—but it is possible to design models that expand access while maintaining program sustainability. In this session, two auxiliary program leaders share how their institutions built financial assistance into their summer camps and enrichment programs. Presenters will walk through the rationale behind allocating aid, how they partner with community-based organizations to reach families, and the operational processes used to distribute and manage funding. The session will also highlight lessons learned, including how these efforts have strengthened community partnerships and broadened program participation. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for creating financial aid structures, identifying community partners, and making the case for access initiatives within auxiliary and summer program operations.

Budget Quest is back - this time with a staff hiring focus! Dive into an interactive simulation with others where you’ll be handed a budget, a program, and the challenge to spend smart and win big. How can you optimize your hiring needs and spending strategies? Debate the merits of age and experience for various roles as you race to ensure legal compliance and maximum impact. How does the cost of additional training and certifications impact your community and your payroll budget? What specialized programs are worth their staffing and certification costs? When is a “warm body” all that you really need? We’ll share tips and lessons learned (sometimes the hard way!) from decades of summer staff hiring along the way. Will your program come out on top of the bottom line?

This session is a unique opportunity to bring your Business Office partners to explore the “other” side of summer staff hiring!

Failure can drive growth, but in camp and auxiliary settings, staff mistakes can affect program success and reputation. This session explores how to balance support and autonomy—when to step in and when to let staff struggle productively. Using real-life examples, we’ll highlight best practices for “contained failure” that promote learning without compromising outcomes. Participants will also examine strategies to build resilience and confidence by leveraging moments of challenge. Framed through reflective leadership, the session invites attendees to assess their own leadership and coaching styles and consider how to use them to support staff development and maximize performance.

What happens when a beloved but limited summer arts program is reimagined through the lens of data, market positioning, and emerging technology? This session tells the story of how Derby Academy transformed “Derby Summer Arts” into a comprehensive, revenue-generating, and mission-aligned Derby Summer Programs model. By combining internal data analysis, peer market research, and practical applications of AI, we redesigned programming, pricing, staffing, and marketing to better meet family demand and institutional goals.

Attendees will walk away with a replicable framework for evolving their own auxiliary programs using accessible tools and strategic thinking—not just intuition.